ACC places three schools in top 10 of Directors’ Cup standings

Three ACC schools ranked in the top 10 of the final winter Division I LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings released Thursday morning. Virginia is not among them.

Notre Dame (fourth place), North Carolina (fifth) and NC State (ninth) form the ACC’s top-10 contingent. They are followed in the top 40 by No. 21 Virginia Tech, No. 23 Louisville, No. 26 Duke, No. 39 Virginia and No. 40 Florida State.

“ACC student-athletes and their respective teams continue to shine nationally, and we are so proud of the five programs that captured NCAA Championships this year,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “We continue to enjoy watching our spring programs compete at the highest level and look forward to both the ACC and NCAA postseasons.”

National championships by Notre Dame in fencing and Virginia in women’s swimming & diving highlighted the ACC’s winter sports seasons. ACC men’s basketball placed three teams in the Elite 8 (Duke, Miami and North Carolina), with the Blue Devils and Tar Heels advancing to the NCAA Final Four.

Overall, the ACC led all conferences with 14 NCAA men’s basketball postseason wins. On the women’s side, the ACC tied for the conference high with eight NCAA teams, with Louisville reaching the NCAA Women’s Final Four. The ACC’s 12 wins in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament were also the most of any conference.

The ACC enters the spring sports season leading all conferences with five NCAA team titles during the 2021-22 academic year – NC State women’s cross country, Florida State women’s soccer, Clemson men’s soccer, Virginia women’s swimming & diving and Notre Dame fencing.

The first spring Division I LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings update will be published in mid-June. Final standings, including results from baseball, will be published in early July.

The LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in NCAA Championships.

Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA’s website at www.directorscup.org. In addition, please visit www.thedirectorscup.com and follow on Twitter @ldirectorscup.